Linda Harris SHARING A MEAL — Area veterans share food and stories with Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla Jr. during this week’s “Veterans Breakfast.” Abdalla hosts the breakfasts, something his father, Fred Sr., did from time-to-time at the fairgrounds

STEUBENVILLE — Jeffrey Hawkins looks forward to the time he and his buddies get to spend in the Jefferson County Justice Center every couple of months, swapping stories and taking good-natured jabs at each other.

“It’s the camaraderie, seeing fellow veterans here,” said Hawkins, a staple at Sheriff Fred Abdalla Jr.’s bi-monthly Veterans Breakfasts. “We just enjoy being part of the group. I thank him for wanting to do this for us, it’s a beautiful thing for veterans, seeing how much (we) mean to Americans.”

Abdalla has been hosting the breakfasts for a little over a year, something he does to honor the bond the veterans had forged with his father, Fred Sr., who himself served as sheriff for over 37 years until his death in 2022.

“These gentlemen and my father had a very tight-knit relationship,” he said. “My dad used to cook them breakfast periodically out at the fairgrounds and when they told me the story, I told them, ‘You know what? I think I’d like to continue that and honor my father and just the relationship they had with him. I want to be as supportive to these veterans as my father was to them and as they were to him — you know, later in his life, the camaraderie, the way they are with each other, it really, really, really lifted my dad’s spirits the last couple years of his life, anytime he was with them. It’s a chance for me to reflect on my father and a way to show them my thanks, an easy way to show them my thanks.”

A couple dozen vets were on hand earlier this week for the April breakfast, a smaller-than-usual crowd. Hawkins said it’s typically packed but with the weather finally warming up, he figures some regulars had things they had to catch up on. The reduced numbers didn’t affect their appetites or their jibes, though.

“When there’s food involved, (we) show up,” veteran Martin Dalton interjected. “We show up for church functions, school functions…if we get the invite we show up and we enjoy it.”

Dalton pointed to a man named “Frank” who’d just walked past, patiently waiting until he’d sat down and could get his attention. “I just mentioned to our reporter here how, when you joined us, you weighed 175 pounds,” he joked. “And because of all the breakfasts, look at you now…”

“And I’m proud of it,” the other man replied, unphased by the laughter engulfing the group at their table.

Another veteran jokingly asked the sheriff if being part of the veterans group gets them a “free get-out-of-jail” card.

“Depends on the circumstances,” Abdalla replied, drawing a roar of appreciation from his guests.

“It’s just a way for me to show them my thanks,” Abdalla said later. “You know, it’s easy to go up to a veteran and say, ‘We thank you for your service’. I wanted to do something in addition to that, and getting to see them every other month, I look forward to it, too. It’s the highlight of our day.”

The breakfasts, he said, are “a way to get them in the door, so we can see each other and talk, build a relationship.”

Abdalla said he and Steubenville Police Chief Ken Anderson are trying to put together a Veterans Outreach Program, “to where, when we come in contact with veterans in the community, we have a team of people that if they’re in crisis, we’ll do everything we can to try to avoid having to arrest (them), we’ll offer whatever help we can get them, (whether it’s) with a utility bill or food – whatever it is, we want to be there for them.”

He admits it’s not coming together as fast as he’d like “but that’s the dream, the goal — to have a whole dedicated team so anytime we have a veteran in crisis, that team goes out and meets with them and tries to come up with the best solution to whatever their problem is. They sacrificed so much for us, we want to be there for them, for them to know we’re there.”

Local veterans and other groups have stepped up to help defray costs associated with the breakfast, and at this week’s breakfast a representative of the Order of Eastern Star, Unionport chapter, dropped off a check for $1,000.

“Last year, our deputies went to each cemetery with them and laid wreaths with families in the community and stuff,” he said. “It’s actually a really beautiful event, and I know for our guys, it was the first year for some of them, they really enjoyed being there and participating in that.”

He said his deputy clerks, Stacy Yanda and Kim Kelley, do the cooking and preparations.

“This is just a community outreach for our veterans, whatever we can do to spend more time with them,” he said. “And I think that’s really just all they want, to have time spent with them, to talk about the things they did. You sit there in that room, and you look at those guys and ladies, and you think, how sweet–they may be ornery, but how sweet. And then you realize these men and women were bad asses back in their prime, they were out there doing extraordinary things in foreign lands. They don’t brag, they’re so humble…if all of society acted so selflessly as they did, wouldn’t this be a beautiful place to be?”

Abdalla said the next Veterans Breakfast will be June 24 at 11:30 a.m., a later start than usual because they’re planning to cook out.